Poland will establish $1.6 bln fund to help industries

Wojciech Kowalczyk, the Deputy Minister of the State Treasury, said a special investment fund, designed in part to help rescue troubled Polish miner Kompania Weglowa, will have around PLN6 billion ($1.6 bln) in assets. "We consider PLN 6 billion a reasonable size for the fund," Kowalczyk told Reuters. The fund would be capitalized in two phases, he said. In the first instance, PLN1.5 billion would be invested by the end of August, PLN 1.3 billion of it from state bank BGK and the rest from state investment vehicle PIR. The second phase of investment , to be called the Polish Companies Investment Fund (FIPP), would be brought in the next 3-6 months, Kowalczyk added. He refused to reveal which companies will contribute to the fund, but he assured they included the biggest listed firms in Poland. The type of fund being created can put up to 20 percent of its funds into one investment. This means that FIPP could spend up to around 1.2 billion zlotys on the mining industry. "I believe that FIPP could turn out a very good investment in the next few years," Kowalczyk said.